• De Villiers – From WP reject to EP champ

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    EP Warriors captain Matthew de Villiers believes he would be playing club cricket in Cape Town were it not for coach Robin Petersen.

    De Villiers capped a dream debut season in professional cricket by leading the Warriors to the T20 Challenge title, sealed in dramatic fashion with a Super Over win against Boland in Paarl.

    The 23-year-old captain said the victory – the franchise’s first T20 title in 15 years – was the result of a group that refused to back down, even when the pressure peaked late in the tournament.

    “We always knew it would be a tough outing in Paarl. The message before the game was that we must stay calm because playing Boland in Paarl is not easy,” De Villiers told SportsBoom.co.za. “It was a fantastic victory for us … first time in 15 years.”

    The Warriors missed an opportunity to seal the match in the final over of regulation play, but still held their nerve in the Super Over.

    “We always make things difficult for ourselves,” he joked. “JP [King] has been at the Warriors for a while and for him to face the last couple of deliveries … he’ll have mixed emotions not getting the side over the line sooner, but the tears of joy in the end speak volumes about how much this team means to him. The boys are stoked we got over the line.”

    REPORT: Warriors lift T20 Challenge trophy after Super Over

    De Villiers admitted the mental demands of the season were immense.

    “It has been a hard season, especially as captain. The boys have worked incredibly hard to dig deep. Cricket is a mental game. We lost here in the qualifiers, then had to travel back home to play for a spot in the final, then fly back to Paarl again and beat them. It’s quite special.”

    De Villiers’ rise has been anything but straightforward. Despite years of strong club-cricket performances in Cape Town, he was repeatedly overlooked by Western Province.

    It was former Proteas spinner Robin Petersen who gave him his chance.

    “Last year was a pinch-me moment. I’ve worked hard to get to this point … who knows where I would be if it wasn’t for Robbie? I would probably be banging 100s in club cricket in Cape Town,” he said.

    “With Rory Kleinveldt trying to change things at Western Province and bringing in more local guys, there is just so much talent in the Western Cape that has been overlooked. Robbie brought me to the Warriors, and I learned a lot from him. I just had to go out and do what I do best.”

    Incredibly, De Villiers was appointed captain at the start of the T20 Challenge despite having never played a professional match.

    “Yeah, it was quite funny,” he recalled. “I captained the team on my debut. That just shows what Robbie is like – he puts trust in and backs his players. We played the first game against the Titans, and I was giving a team talk before the game, then one of the players had to present me with my cap… quite funny.

    “It has been a cool experience to captain this side and win a trophy.”

    De Villiers finished the tournament as the T20 Challenge’s leading run-scorer.

    “I’m incredibly happy. The team and coaches gave me a role where I could express myself. I must give credit to the players around me for playing their part. Luckily, I was able to score a few fifties.”

    He added that the childhood dream of wearing the Proteas badge remains strong.

    “I remember playing backyard cricket when I was three, trying to be Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis or AB de Villiers. My heart has always been green. Hopefully I keep performing for my team, win games for them, and maybe win games for the Proteas as well.”

    De Villiers, who wears the No 17 shirt and shares the same surname as his childhood idol, says he hopes to forge his own path.

    “AB is definitely my role model. His stats speak for themselves. I’ve started with ‘De Villiers 17’ and try to play a good brand of cricket. The time will come when I’ll create my own brand. For now, I just want to stay humble and keep working hard. It’s a long journey to the top.”

    Photo: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images

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    Simon Borchardt